Change of Mind
by Tiro
Summary: Neji falls in love in a certain orange haired ninja.


**Change of mind**

I do not own Naruto /cries/

Hi there, Tiro here. This is a fic I wrote to _iloooveinuyashal_. NejiNaruto pairing. Following the manga. In this fic, Naruto is a bit more mature than in the series, much like in my other fic _The chibi accident and Kakashi's discovery_. Enjoy!

-o-

Neji had always believed that fate decided everything. Nothing could change that. But he had been wrong. A certain orange-wearing shinobi had changed his vision of life.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Whenever he heard that name, he felt a light feeling in his stomach. He felt free whenever the blonde was close. His heart went overdrive when Naruto smiled to him. The Hyuuga had never felt like this before. The boy was in short, very confused.

He had started notice it only a few days after his defeat at the Chuunin exam. Even though the third had died, when Naruto showed up, Neji felt happy. It had been two months already, and then Sasuke ran away. Neji's heart sank every time he saw Naruto unhappy.

-o-

Neji walked towards the training grounds, to his meeting with his team. He was no where close to be fully healed but he was healthy enough to meet his team. He had heard that Naruto would leave for training with the Frog Sannin Jiraiya as soon as the blonde was healed enough. Neji looked down as his cheeks heated up. There was no way he could confess his feelings to Naruto, especially when he could barely explain them to himself. He entered the clearing and Lee and Gai was already training. Tenten was silently watching. They all stopped as Neji came though. Tenten's eyes lit up and she ran over and asked:

"Are you alright now, Neji?"

"I'm much better," Neji said. "Tsunade-sama said I could start training in a few weeks."

"That's our Neji!" Gai said cheerfully and Lee nodded.

Neji looked on as Gai sparred with both Lee and Tenten. His mind was though on a blonde boy in the hospital. He, Shikamaru and Kiba had visited Naruto already. Chouji had been too injured to visit someone. Naruto had giving them a rather fake smile. None of them pretended to notice how much it hurt for the blonde to even smile. Neji's heart had speed up when Naruto had asked him to keep him company for a while. They sat in a comfortable silence and Naruto gave him a more real smile as the Hyuuga prepared to leave. Right then, Neji wanted to find the Uchiha and beat the crap out of him for hurting Naruto so much.

Neji was brought out from his thoughts when Gai announced that they had the day off. The Hyuuga slowly got up and grimaced. His limbs hurt and his whole body was sore. He walked away as quickly as he could. Without noticing it, he soon stood outside the Konoha Hospital. His feet had apparently decided his destination so he walked inside and searched up Naruto's room.

"Come in!" he heard Naruto call out after he knocked.

He opened the door and looked at the blonde, who shone up and said:

"Neji! What a surprise! What makes you come?"

"No special reason," the Hyuuga replied. "Just wanted someone decent to speak to."

"And you choose me?" Naruto laughed. "I feel honoured!"

Neji chuckled a bit and sat down.

-o-

Naruto was happy. Really, really happy. He always felt happy when Neji was around for some reason. The Hyuuga always had a calming aura around him, making the blonde feel secure. He had never felt this secure with anyone else than Iruka.

They chatted for a while and came in to the subject training. Naruto said:

"Once I'm healthy enough, Jiraiya said he's gonna train me outside the village. And when I'm back, I'm gonna be able to beat you!"

"You've already beaten me," Neji said.

"It wasn't fair fight," Naruto stuck out his tongue in a childlike manner.

Neji only laughed. The blonde pouted and Neji had to take all his willpower to not squeal and scream _'__Cute!'_, since it certainly was not a Hyuuga's behaviour. He really wanted to, though.

-o-

The Hyuuga walked out from the hospital, tired. He was still so weak that walking made him rather tired. He sighed; Naruto would leave and he would not have courage enough to tell his feelings. His heart felt like it would explode.

-o-

Naruto looked out the window from his position on the hospital bed. His left hand clenched the shirt on his chest, right over the heart. He felt lonely without Neji. Why?

Days flew by and soon Naruto was ready to leave the hospital. Jiraiya wasted no time; Naruto had three days after he left the hospital to prepare for their journey. The blonde himself felt unhappy though. He realized that he had more than friendly feelings towards a certain Hyuuga; a Hyuuga that had risked his life to try to get back Sasuke. Naruto wanted to see Neji and say what he felt, but in the same time he dreaded for it. No one had ever answered his feelings before. His crush on Sakura, long forgotten, was crushed under the pressure of Naruto's feelings towards Neji.

The boy walked towards his apartment late at night. He had trained a bit too long, but did not care. As long as he trained, he could keep his feelings for Neji bottled deep inside. Naruto yawned and walked past the academy. He stopped and looked at the lonely swing. How many days had he sat there, wondering why everyone hated him? How many days had he sat there _after_ he learned what made everyone hate him? Naruto did not have a bad memory, but yet he could not remember. He walked over to the swing and gently sat down. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Good memories and bad memories of the academy haunted his mind.

-o-

Neji walked around in the village, not wanting to go home just yet. He actually hoping to spot the blonde boy, but he had no luck so far. He sighed and directed his path towards the academy; it had been some time since he last saw the building.

It had been pure luck that he had found Naruto asleep by the old swing. He did not want the boy to stay outside and so Neji carefully picked the boy up, and blushed when Naruto pressed his face into Neji's shoulder. He jumped up on a roof and leapt on rooftops to Naruto's apartment. The blonde happily slept on.

-o-

Neji landed with a soft sound on the roof to Naruto's building. He soon found Naruto's door, and was a bit confused when it was open. He shrugged and went inside. Inside was very… clean. Not a piece of dust, not one thing out of order. Neji stood frozen with Naruto in his arms bridal style for about five minutes, just looking around. He found the place very lonely looking. He finally walked to Naruto's bedroom and laid down the boy. He took off Naruto's sandals before walking to the front door to put them down. Then he silently walked back and sat down next to the blonde. He leaned down and let his eyes take in the peaceful, sleeping face. He moved and kissed Naruto's forehead. When he moved, he looked directly into Naruto's sleepy yet sharp eyes.

Neji moved rather fast when wanting it, and now he really wanted it. But somehow he could not force his body to move. Naruto touched his forehead with his small fingers and said:

"Why did you do that, Neji?"

He did not sound angry. He sounded confused.

"I-… I wanted to," Neji whispered. "I'm going to leave now, okay? Go back to sleep; nothing of this happened."

Neji moved to get away. Naruto's arms had shot up and Neji found himself being pressed to Naruto. Neji moved so that he lay on his side, with Naruto in his arms.

"Naruto?"

"Please, not a dream," Naruto said and looked at Neji. "This isn't some dream, right? This is reality, right?"

Neji looked at the blonde in his arms. Naruto had a pleading look in his eyes, mixing it with a bit of slight hope and… was that love? Neji inched towards Naruto and pressed his lips firmly against the blonde's. The blonde answered shyly. Neji pressed Naruto tighter to him, as if afraid to let go. The younger boy's arms clung desperately to the Hyuuga and soon their bodies were a twist of limbs and surrounded by blankets.

Neji was breathing hard; not even training could make him this exhausted. The blonde beneath him was flushed, and his orange jacket and black T-shirt had been thrown off him long ago. Naruto dragged off Neji's jacket and send it to join his on the floor. Naruto stroke the pale chest with his small hands and Neji let out a moan. He soon captured the blonde's swollen lips with new enthusiasm.

-o-

"Neji?"

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Love you."

Neji looked at the blonde in his arms, sweat and the smell of sex still lingered in the air, and smiled.

"Love you too Naruto," Neji whispered and hugged his lover closer.

-o-

He waved Naruto off when the boy left with Jiraiya. The blonde had given him the necklace that Tsunade gave him with the words 'I'll be back for that' and Neji had answered 'I'll always wait for you'. The blonde had given him a quick peck on the lips in front of the Sannin, so now Neji was still blushing even though Jiraiya and Naruto was out of sight. He stood there for a few minutes, Naruto's necklace safely tucked away under his clothes, and then smiled. Now he had something to wait for.

-o-

**Two years later**

Neji had just finished training with Lee and was exhausted. He walked silently along the streets, unconsciously heading for the Hokage monument. He settled down on the Fourth's head and sighed. It had been two years already. He carefully picked out the necklace and held it gently in his hand. His only connection with Naruto. He gave it a light kiss and tucked it away.

"Brooding, or just enjoying the evening sun?"

Neji knew that voice. He whipped around, hair flying in the wind and found himself staring at…

"N-Naruto?" he said, voice cracking slightly.

"I'm back," Naruto said. He was taller, still as lean, dressed more discreetly in black and orange, his face was sharper now, hair a little longer. Neji wouldn't have cared had the teen been dressed in rags. He was just so _damn _beautiful. "Jiraiya said I should've eaten something, but I really wanted to find you first."

Neji got up and as you know, he can move rather fast when he wants to so Naruto had no warning before being picked up and Neji swung him around while kissing the life out of him. Neji put him down after a few minutes, both panting.

"Holy shit, that was the most surprising welcome I've ever had," Naruto said touching his lips.

"I'm not done yet," Neji said. "It's just that some things you don't do in the open."

"Wha-Ahh!" Naruto let out a strangled moan as the Hyuuga bit his neck harshly, surely leaving a mark to tomorrow for everyone to see.

"How about we go to your place and catch things up?" Neji whispered in his ear before biting the earlobe gently.

"Am I gonna be able to walk tomorrow?" Naruto said breathlessly.

"Not a chance," Neji growled and picked him up once more, this time bridal style.

Naruto found himself grinning. He was stronger, he was going to beat the crap out of Sasuke and bring him back but the best was that Neji had missed him and he could not wait until they get to his apartment and 'catch things up'.

Yes, life was good.

End

* * *

My very first NejiNaruto pairing, hope you enjoyed it, especially _iloooveinuyashal_! R & R if you want to!


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